Field Med
by sinful starlet
Summary: Chapter 3 up at last! When Max gets injured in the line of duty - who will be the one to save her? As always, MA all the way!
1. 1

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Field med

By Sinful Starlet

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Disclaimer: once more for the record - not mine, never will be, yada yada yada! You get the idea!

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Rating: probably PG-13, nothing really worse than the show, I don't think anyway

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Summary: When Max gets injured in the line of duty - who will be the one to save her? Max gets the chance to re-evaluate the relationships in her life, and come to some decisions once and for all.

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Author's note: Okay, yet another Max/Alec fic. Sorry to all you Max/Logan shippers, but this will forever be my favourite pairing so I'm sticking with it! I should also point out that my medical knowledge is based on nothing more than a couple of years of watching ER, so if it's completely ridiculous in that respect - sorry! I'm using the situation for dramatic impact, not medical accuracy! Think that's about it. This takes place right after 'Hello, Goodbye', but basically everything after that never existed in my world.

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Extra note: Apologies to all those waiting for updates for 'Max & Alec + another locked room = ?' and 'A Freak Odyssey'. I promise, I will eventually get round to finishing those stories but I've been seriously busy with uni this term. In the meantime, this is the beginning of another idea I had a while back so I hope that sort of compensates for the time being!

Hope ya like it anyway! *SS*

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Field med

By Sinful Starlet

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Intro

The door burst open and they struggled inside, the smaller of the two figures coming after the first, her breathing laboured and her movement uncharacteristically awkward. He rushed forwards ahead of her, clearing the couch and turning round just in time to catch hold of her hands and help her to lay down on it. "Don't say it," she said as she gasped with the pain and saw the expression on her face, "a hospital's not an option - what do you think White'll be doing right now?"

She adjusted her position a little and removed the makeshift bandages she'd been holding against her stomach. "Max," he said, his voice sounding shaky and full of fear, "we've got to do something. You've already lost a lot of blood, and I can't help you - if you don't get to a hospital soon you're-----". Again, she cut him off, her breath sounding more and more ragged as the pain coursed through her, "I can't go to a hospital - not with White watching. If I go, he'll find me, and he'll take me, and there'll be nothing you can do about it".

Those last words stung a little more than he would have liked, but he knew she was being honest - a lot more honest than he was able to be right now. "Okay," he said, thinking as he walked quickly to the kitchen and returned with some towels to stem the bleeding, "okay, so we call someone," he went on, already grabbing the phone and punching in numbers, " - Sam, Beverly Shankar - they'd come, and they'd---".

"They'd be followed," Max interrupted again, though it was taking every last ounce of strength in her to keep talking, "White'll know enough by now to know that they've both helped me in the past, it's not safe". "Then who?" he broke in, his voice sounding increasingly desperate as he knelt beside her, willing her to hold on, wishing he could do something, anything to help. 

She was beginning to fade though, he could see it and the thought of what could happen was more terrifying to him than anything else he could have imagined. Her eyes closed for a second before she spoke again, and he gripped her hand firmly, trying to find her fingers beneath the layers of glove dividing them. He sighed in relief as her eyes opened again and she managed to say a single word - the one word he truly did not want to hear at that moment, "Alec". 

He was all ready to come up with a dozen reasons not to call him, _him _of all people, but he never got a chance to say anything. Her voice disrupted his silent train of thought, sounding more and more feint as she went on, ".....call Alec....." she managed to lift her head enough to look him straight in the eye as she said, "....call him, Logan - please---". That was all she could say though, her head fell back against the couch and she passed out completely.

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Well, that was a cheerful little beginning wasn't it? Just another idea I had for how to approach the whole post-Hello Goodbye thing. As always, I will try and update soon, but can't promise anything right now. Hope you liked it anyway. *SS*


	2. 2

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Field med

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: once more for the record - not mine, never will be, yada yada yada! You get the idea!

Rating: probably PG-13, nothing really worse than the show, I don't think anyway

Summary: When Max gets injured in the line of duty - who will be the one to save her? Max gets the chance to re-evaluate the relationships in her life, and come to some decisions once and for all. (M/A)

Author's note: Okay, yet another Max/Alec fic. Sorry to all you Max/Logan shippers, but this will forever be my favourite pairing so I'm sticking with it. I should also point out that my medical knowledge is based on nothing more than a couple of years of watching ER, so if it's completely ridiculous in that respect - sorry! I'm using the situation for dramatic impact, not medical accuracy. Think that's about it. This takes place right after 'Hello, Goodbye', but basically everything after that never existed in my world.

Extra note: Right, next chapter up - this one seems to be going quite quickly for some reason, bit of back story here and Max's situation gets considerably worse. Not sure why I'm so mean to the character - I actually do like Max, but never mind!

Hope ya like it anyway! *SS*

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Field med

By Sinful Starlet

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PART #1

Earlier that night...

Alec drained his glass and turned away to look out over the dance floor. Crash was packed to the rafters that night, the thump of the bass coming through as the throng of bodies all moved in sync to the upbeat rhythm. Then he saw him. "Heads up, Max," he said, turning back to the girl he was sitting opposite, "Logan's just walked in". Max looked up suddenly as she heard Logan's name and looked towards the stairs, seeing Logan just standing there, waiting. "What's he doing?" said Alec, who had also turned back to look at Logan. "He's waiting for me," Max said quickly, checking her watch and then reaching for her jacket. "Hey, hey wait a second," said Alec, catching her wrist before she could slide off the stool, "what's going on?"

Max groaned inwardly, she did not need this complication right now. "Logan's got something he wants me to take care of, it shouldn't take that long". "Right," said Alec, letting go of her wrist but also standing as she got to her feet. "Alec, no," Max said quietly, a warning flashing across her eyes as she turned back to look at Logan again, "I don't think you should come". Alec's eyes darted momentarily back towards Logan, "He told you not to tell me about it, didn't he?" "I..." Max started, but her hesitation had already told Alec what he needed to know. On the other side of the room, Logan could only guess what words were passing between the two X-5s , but their physical proximity was enough to cause a reaction.

It had been two weeks since Max had lied to Logan about her and Alec. It had taken Max several days after that to actually admit to Alec what she had done, and even then it had taken Original Cindy nagging at her to persuade her that it was the right thing to do. Alec hadn't exactly been thrilled, but he had agreed to go along with it, at least for the time being, and Max had been more grateful than she would have ever allowed herself to show. So for that two weeks, she had avoided all but the most basic contact with Logan, instead spending all her time with either Cindy or Alec himself. 

And amazingly, they had hardly fought at all. Sure they'd had a few of their typical jokey-disagreements, but no serious arguments. In fact, for the first time since she had met him, Max started to count Alec as a real friend, realising that there was a lot more to him than she had ever given him credit for. Even at her lowest moments, usually right after getting off the phone with Logan, he could make her smile, and seemed to understand (better than even Cindy) when she didn't want to talk about what was going on and just needed some space.

But he wasn't about to let this one go. "Please, Alec," she said, sounding a little pleading now, "it's a simple enough job - not gonna take two of us to get it done". "I just don't want a scene," she went on, taking his hand in hers, "I'll call when it's done, ok?" "Ok?" she said again, seeing that Alec was really reluctant to let her go alone right now, and actually finding his obvious concern really...well actually 'confusing' was probably the best word at that moment but anyway. 

"Alright," Alec said at last, though the expression on his face showed that he was still less than pleased with the situation. He let go of her hand, but just as she was about to go, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Be--" he started but she cut him off. "Careful?" she smiled, seeing him mirror the gesture. "Always," she said at last, touching her fist to his stomach just like he'd done to her not that long ago. 

And then she was gone, moving through the crowd of dancers towards the stairs where Logan was waiting. From where he stood Alec could see them exchange a few words before Max led the way back out to the street. He did consider following them, but if Max was right, and the job really was nothing that complicated then he would hear from her soon enough. He checked his watch, it was a little after ten. He exhaled heavily, but reasoned that he could probably afford to give her a couple of hours. 

Even an X-5 can be wrong sometimes...

About an hour and a half later, Alec stepped into his apartment, turning the lock on the door behind him and walking into his kitchen. He walked towards the fridge before remembering with a groan that he hadn't got round to re-stocking it yet. Max had come through with some papers for him after his arrest so that got the cops off his back for a while at least. Still, he'd only managed to get back to his apartment two days ago and hadn't yet gotten round to the basics of food shopping.

He walked into the living room, dropping down onto the sofa and reaching for the remote to turn his tv on. He checked his watch again while he flicked through the channels. It was now 11:38 and he still hadn't heard from Max. Alec's brow furrowed in concern and, hesitating only for a second, he reached inside his jacket for his cell-phone. He started punching in Max's number, before almost dropping the phone in shock as it started to ring in his hand. He breathed a sigh of relief, of course it was Max calling to say that she'd got back ok and there was nothing for him to worry about. The illusion lasted for all of a second though, as he saw that it wasn't Max's name that had come up on the screen...it was Logan's.

His blood ran cold as he answered the call, already knowing what was wrong. "Alec?" Logan's voice sounded fast and feverish. "Logan, slow down," Alec managed to cut in, "what happened? What happened to Max?" He barely registered Logan's next words at first, "She's...she's hurt. Just get here now, I don't know how much longer she---" Logan started to trail off, and Alec, heart thumping inside his chest broke in with, "Where are you?" "My-my place," Logan replied immediately, "I---" "I'm on my way," Alec said, hanging up before Logan could say anything else. 

He didn't even bother to turn off the TV first, or close the door as he ran out into the hallway. His lungs burned as he reached the garage at the back of his building - he hadn't even run this fast when he was at Manticore, but he wouldn't slow down for a second, snapping the chain securing his bike, just leaving the loose ends hanging as he raced out onto the street. He knew he was attracting attention, overtaking cars in free-flowing traffic on his bike, but he didn't care. Only one thing in the world mattered to him at that moment, Logan's words still ringing in his ears, echoing far louder than any of the car horns and sirens. 

He didn't even bother with the elevator when he got to Logan's, taking the stairs three at a time and racing to the right floor. Logan must have heard him coming because he was already at the door when Alec reached it, beckoning him inside urgently. Alec ran into the room, not stopping till he caught sight of her at last, and once he did, his heart almost stopped. Max was lying stretched out on Logan's couch, blood-soaked towels pressed to her stomach and left shoulder. Her eyes were still open, but her face, far from its usual mocha shade was scarily pale. "Alec," she said, holding out her right hand to him, though she had to drop it back to her side, the effort being too much for her, and her voice sounded dry and weak.

Alec dropped by her side instantly, taking her hand in his and trying to get some sense of what happened. Then he heard footsteps and remembered who else was there. He rounded on Logan and the sight of the male X-5 was one of the most frightening things Logan had ever seen. "What the hell did you do?" Alec yelled, shaking with rage and emotion. "Alec, no," Max forced out, interrupting before Logan even got the chance to answer and Alec's attention immediately shifted back to the girl before him. "Jesus, Max," he breathed and Max saw tears forming in his eyes, before he blinked them back, rounding on Logan again, "why did you bring her back here - we've got to get her to a hospital!" "No," Max cut in, through it was more and more of an effort to force out each word, "we can't - White will---". She trailed off and Alec looked back to Logan.

"The whole thing was a set-up," Logan explained, his own voice heavy with emotion, "as soon as we realised what was going on, we ran but one of them pulled a gun and...". He couldn't finish whatever he was going to say, breaking down and falling against the wall for support. "He was going to shoot me," Logan managed at last, though Alec was no longer looking at him, having turned all his attention back to Max as he tried to assess just how badly she was hurt, "but Max ran in front of me - pushed me out of the way, and she--". He trailed off again, but Alec had heard enough - at that moment he really felt like killing Logan, this had all happened because of him, Max got shot because of him.

"We can't go to a hospital," Max said, breaking the silence, "White'll be watching after what happened last month - I'm hurt and if he finds me I won't be able to defend myself, and even if he doesn't find me there'll be questions, they'll take blood samples, they'll---". "Ssh," said Alec, quieting Max, "don't try to talk". "So what's the plan?" he asked, not taking his eyes from her face and surprising Logan immensely with the tenderness in his voice. "You took field med, right?" Max said, coughing a little, a few flecks of blood landing on the edge of her lips. "Me?" Alec asked incredulously, "I'm the plan?!" Logan began to panic as he heard the horror in Alec's voice - what if he really couldn't help? "Max!" he cut in, moving over to the sofa too, though stopping several feet short of Alec and Max, "We can't just....he can't--". Neither of the X-5s seemed to be listening to him though.

"You're asking me to--" Alec cut in, but Max stopped him, squeezing his hand. "I'm asking you to do what you were trained to do, soldier, besides," she paused and the slightest hint of a smile crossed her face, "looks like we're fresh outta options right now!" Alec bit back a pained laugh, a single tear rolling down his face, though one brushed aside by Max before Logan could see it. "Alright," Alec said, taking a deep breath and blinking again to clear his eyes, "let's get to work". He gently released Max's hand and started to remove the soaked towels so he could see what he was dealing with. 

He could quickly see that he was going to have to remove Max's shirt, and now didn't seem the time for niceties so he just took it in his hands and ripped it down the centre, taking care to move her as little as possible. Logan stood behind them as Alec worked, perhaps feeling the awkwardness more than any of them, cursing himself for the pang of jealousy that rose up in his stomach when he saw just how comfortable Max and Alec were with each other - the trust in her eyes and the gentleness of his touch. Alec almost gasped as he caught sight of Max's injuries at last. She had taken a single bullet to the stomach and another to her shoulder and both wounds were still bleeding quite freely. 

His mind froze for a second but then he felt Max's hand rest on his arm and he came thudding back to reality. He quickly finished checking her over, but there didn't seem to any other injuries. He quickly refolded the towels and pressed them back against the bullet wounds, resting Max's hand on top of the towel on her stomach to keep it in place. "It'll be alright, Maxie," he said, though Max could see in his eyes just how scared he was. "I trust you," she said, so quietly only Alec heard it, managing a weak smile.

"Logan?" he called, only now turning his face away from Max's, and getting to his feet, beckoning for the man to follow him. He could see the same terror in his eyes as he knew was in his own, but he could not allow himself to forget that it was Logan's fault that Max was hurt in the first place. Nevertheless, he squashed down his anger, focussing all his attention on helping Max instead. "We should be getting her to a hospital" Logan said, before Alec had the chance to say anything else. Alec shook his head, he had no patience for this right now, "You heard what Max said, that isn't an option right now". Logan was about to interrupt again, but Alec cut him off, "Listen, whatever you're thinking, if we don't do something soon then she is going to die, it's too late for questions". His voice shook a little as he spoke but he breathed deeply, carrying on, "Now are you going to let me help her or not?" Logan took one look at the resolute expression on Alec's face before he glanced over to Max again and said, "What do you need?"

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Right, well that was fun wasn't it? Sorry it's a bit doom and gloom at the moment, that seems to be the way this one's going. Don't think I'm giving too much away though to say that the ending is more or less happy - promise! *SS*


	3. 3

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Field med

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: once more for the record - not mine, never will be, yada yada yada! You get the idea!

Rating: probably PG-13, nothing really worse than the show, I don't think anyway

Summary: When Max gets injured in the line of duty - who will be the one to save her? Max gets the chance to re-evaluate the relationships in her life, and come to some decisions once and for all. (M/A)

Author's note: Okay, yet another Max/Alec fic. Sorry to all you Max/Logan shippers, but this will forever be my favourite pairing so I'm sticking with it. I should also point out that my medical knowledge is based on nothing more than a couple of years of watching ER, so if it's completely ridiculous in that respect - sorry! I'm using the situation for dramatic impact, not medical accuracy. Think that's about it. This takes place right after 'Hello, Goodbye', but basically everything after that never existed in my world.

Extra note: Okay, chapter three up, still with the doom and gloom, but we're going with the 'building the tension' bit so I hope that's ok! Also, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I promise it's all very much appreciated! Think that's about it for now, so enjoy and I'll try and post more soon.

Hope ya like it anyway! SS

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Field med

By Sinful Starlet

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PART #2

Logan turned a corner and sped up again, steering with one hand while he punched a number into his cell-phone. It rang half a dozen times before the call was answered, but eventually the reply came through, "Logan, everything ok?" "It's Max," Logan said simply, forcing down the wave of emotion that threatened to surface as he remembered just how badly she had been hurt because of him, "she's hurt, I really need your help". "You're bringing her in?" Sam asked, seeing a frustrated looking med student heading towards him and quickly turning and walking away, "Logan, are you sure that--" But Logan interrupted before he could finish, "I'm...she won't risk it, got someone else handling the practicalities, but we're gonna need some supplies".

"Sure, what do you need?" Sam replied instantly. Logan trapped his phone between his ear and shoulder and reached for the scribbled note Alec had given him, casting his eyes down the lengthy list on its surface, "You got a pen?" Sam took down the list, confirming that he had got all of it as Logan reached the end. "I'll be with you in about fifteen minutes," Logan said, "can you have all that ready by then?" "Come up to Lincoln ward," Sam said, "I'll be there". Logan mumbled a few words of thanks and hung up, dropping the phone onto his seat as he returned all his focus to the road ahead, turning one more corner and coming to a rather abrupt halt as he caught sight of what he was looking for.

He pulled into the kerb, switching the engine off and running for the front door of the house he had stopped in front of. He knocked heavily, realising that the guy had probably gone to sleep already. He knocked increasingly frantically for about two minutes before he finally heard a voice. "What do you want?" called the voice, not opening the door. "Joshua!" Logan called, "Open the door!" The door was immediately flung back to reveal Joshua standing there, obviously still a little sleepy, "Logan?" "You've gotta come with me, Josh," Logan said quickly, already walking back towards the car, "Max needs you". That was all Joshua needed to hear, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head and pulling the door closed behind him, he hurried after Logan, climbing into the passenger's seat as the car screeched back out onto the road.

"Joshua?" Logan asked, somewhat incredulously, "What do you--" but Alec cut him off before he could finish. "She needs blood, Logan," he said, obviously straining to keep his voice level, "a lot more than I can give her, and frankly using yours would be like giving her tap water instead of vodka". "She needs transgenic blood," he went on, a little more calmly, but Logan was already nodding by this point, having gotten the message. "Good," Alec said, "so this should be everything I need," he continued, handing Logan a sheet of paper covered with a rapid scrawly handwriting, "just get back here fast". Logan nodded, folding the paper and tucking it into his jacket, casting one last look at Max before he headed for the door.

As soon as the door was closed, Alec headed for the kitchen, filling a glass with water and carrying it back to the couch. He put it down on the coffee table and shrugged off his jacket, sitting down on the table and taking Max's hand in his again. "Max?" he said gently, forcing her to focus on his voice. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw the glass of water in his other hand. She automatically tried to move to sit herself up, but as soon as she shifted position she felt the pain rip through her again and sank back against the couch. "Ssh.." Alec said as she hissed, letting go of her hand to raise her head a little so she could manage to take a few sips from the glass.

Once she'd had her fill, Alec helped her to lie back down, absent-mindedly stroking a few strands of hair off her forehead. "Cavalry's coming," he said, trying to smile in spite of the mess of emotions flooding through him at that moment, "you just need to hang on a little longer, ok?" Max nodded, seemingly about to say something, but coughing again before she could say whatever it was. Alec tried to quiet her again, but she just shook her head, "Alec..." she said at last, her voice still sounding pale and a little shaky, "...thank you, for..." "Ssh," Alec said again, "don't worry about it, you'll be alright, Maxie, I got your back".

Max managed a smile at this, her eyes drifting closed again as her breathing started to slow. "Hey, Max!" Alec said, a little alarmed, "Come on, stay with me, open your eyes". Her eyes opened again, although clearly with some effort on Max's part. "You've gotta stay awake here," Alec said, taking her hand again, "talk about something, anything". Max frowned a little, and Alec cast about for something to keep her mind focussed, "Um...oh, ok, why don't you tell me all the stupid things I've done since you met me?" She smiled again and even laughed a little at this, but the action only brought the pain back, so Alec tried something else. "Ok, thought that would have been an easy place to start...alright, pledge of Allegiance?...No?...Ok, try listing every excuse you've ever given Normal for being late for work". Max rolled her eyes a little but she could tell what Alec was trying to do so she forced herself to focus, her lips slowly moving as she started what was going to be a very long list.

Logan pulled into the hospital garage, finding an empty bay and stopping the car. "You better stay here," he said to Joshua, "I'll be back soon". "Ok," Joshua said quickly nodding, "Joshua stay in car". Logan nodded in reply, getting out of the car and heading for the elevator. He paced the hallways quickly, looking here and there for a glimpse of his friend, at last sighting him at the end of a hallway. Sam quickly ushered him into a private room with only one occupant who appeared to be in a coma. "This is everything on your list," Sam said, handing him a plastic bag marked 'hospital waste', "you need me to come with you?" Logan shook his head, taking the bag, but this apparently wasn't enough to satisfy Sam.

"Logan, this is some fairly serious equipment here, I mean what are we talking about? You're not gonna try and help her while she talks you through it are you?" Logan shook his head, realising what had been bothering Sam, "Alec's gonna take care of her, he..." he hesitated slightly on the words, emotion getting the better of him for a second, "...he knows what he's doing". "Logan--" Sam cut in again, but Logan interrupted. "He's Manticore, Sam - like her". Sam nodded, understanding, "Well you better get out of here - call me if you need anything else". Logan smiled in gratitude and headed for the door, striding quickly back towards the parking lot and Joshua.

In fact, it was less than forty minutes from the time that he left that Logan and Joshua were stepping off the elevator in Logan's building and stepping inside the apartment. Logan immediately looked for Max, seeing her eyes still open and her lips moving, though he couldn't hear what she was saying. She was looking straight at Alec, while he held her hand, clearly encouraging her to keep talking. The sound of the newcomers interrupted the two X-5s though and they both looked round to see who was there. "Joshua?" Max said, surprised to see him. "Here, Little Fella," Josh said, walking quickly over to the couch to sit down next to Alec, taking her other hand, "Joshua help you get better". Alec gently released Max's hand, standing up to meet Logan.

"This is everything you asked for," Logan said, handing over the bag, struggling not to focus on Max's unnaturally pale face or the blood-soaked cloths on her chest. "Right," Alec said, taking the bag and checking quickly through the contents, "let's do this". He moved over to the coffee table starting to set out the various surgical tools and implements in the bag. "What can I do?" Logan asked quietly, stopping Alec in his tracks. Alec stood up to face the other man, lowering his voice so Max would be less likely to overhear, "You've done what you can, ok? Best thing you can do now is keep out of my way and let me help her". Though the words may have stung a little, Logan could tell that all the harshness in Alec's voice had gone, the only thing colouring his expression now was his obvious concern for Max.

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Right, well that was fun, wasn't it?! Maybe a little more of an insight into Logan and Alec's minds at this point though. Hope you liked it anyway! SS


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